broken bolt

After using and abusing my 2210D to remove a particularly heavy wet snow I found a bolt missing from my steering arm to front gear case. It seems to have broken off inside the gear case. I pulled the other one out to see what it looked like. It was hard to remove. Looked like someone used loctite on the threads. Anyone have any suggestions on removal as I don't want ruin the front gear case threads?

Re: broken bolt

There are several ways to remove broken bolts. I am assuming this bolt is in the 3/8" to 5/8" range for this application. You gave a good clue about what you are up against when you said the bolt next to the broken one came out hard like it had lock-tite on it.

If there is any of the old bolt sticking above the threads and the bolt is large enough you can weld a nut to the broken bolt. The heat will soften the lock-tite and it might come out.

Another option is an easy out. Using a left hand drill bit ( if you have one ) you can drill a hole as close to center as possible and use an easy out. Don't use one that requires the hole to be out to the the edge of the threads because the force of the easy out will expand the broken bolt making it tighter. I like the square easy outs over the spiral. IF you are real lucky the left hand drill will back the stud out while you are drilling. The only time I have ever had any luck with an easy out was when the bolt head broke off like in your situation and was not twisted off or rusted in. DO NOT twist the easy off in the hole or you will be FUBAR.

My gut feeling in your case because of the lock-tite you will need to drill the entire bolt out. When faced with this I like to grind the broken bolt down flush with the top of threaded hole. This does two things, It makes it easier to see all of the bolt so you can find the center and it gives a flat surface to center punch. Very lightly center punch a spot you think is in the center. Look at your mark and it it isn't centered you can still move the spot because you didn't strike it very hard. Once you have a center you are happy with make a good mark. If you have a left hand bit go ahead and drill a hole starting with around an 1/8 bit. Hold the drill straight because this is going to be your pilot hole for larger bits. Using larger bits drill the hole out to about 3/4 of the bolt size and try the easy out. After that doesen't work continue increasing the hole size until you are to the edge of the threads. You will usually be touching the threads on one spot before another unless you are really good with your drilling. You can now take a 3/16 punch that has been ground with a chisel edge and start digging the remaining threads out or use a tap to clean the threads. By removing the top few threads with the chisel, this will allow the tap to start straight and not cross thread. If the tap starts to bind back it out. Use compressed air to keep the chips clear. Do not break the tap off in the hole or you will be FUBAR. If none of this works install a Heli-Coil of the proper size and get back on your tractor.

Good luck. I have done countless stud removals with great success. The larger the bolt the easier it is.

Re: broken bolt

Dan I think you did a great job. I will add, be sure to use cutting oil especially with the tap and the smoother the surface is when the bolt is ground for me the easier it is to see the edge of the bolt. So sanding may help if not ready visible when ground down.

Re: broken bolt

Originally Posted by tbonenfant

After using and abusing my 2210D to remove a particularly heavy wet snow I found a bolt missing from my steering arm to front gear case. It seems to have broken off inside the gear case. I pulled the other one out to see what it looked like. It was hard to remove. Looked like someone used loctite on the threads. Anyone have any suggestions on removal as I don't want ruin the front gear case threads?

There should be 4 bolts 2- 10m x 30m and 2- 10m x 45m, if you have my kind of luck you will be better off removing the housing ( not hard at all ) and let a machine shop get it out. I just broke a bolt off today in a front drive housing, and then broke off an ez out trying to get it out. The machine shop charged me $ 25 to get it out.

Re: broken bolt

I am a machinist and I agree with dan on how to get the bolt out. If you have not done this before you have to go slow and not put much force on the ease out or tap. I have spent a lot of my time removing broken ease outs and taps from someone trying to remove broken bolts. When you have them broken off in holes then you have a whole new set of problems. Make sure that you are centered on bolt before you drill first hole. If the first hole is not in center its real hard to center it for the rest of the holes. This being said I would go ahead and remove bolt and should this fail carry it to a machine shop. How else do we learn. Good luck. big dan

Re: broken bolt

Heat is the best thing if possible for the locktight. One thing I picked up and it does work is beeswax. After drilling the hole and it is hot, fill the hole with it. It will work through the threads lubricating them. This I learned from and oldtimer, now I am one, so this goes way back.

Re: broken bolt

This happened to my neighbor's 4410.

We took the rest of the bolts out and split the case. there was a little less than 1/4" of bolt sticking out of the threaded hole.

I went down to a machine shop supply & bought a temperature crayon - looks sort of like a crayon, but made of something solid that melts at a specific temperature. I think this one was 350, and we heated the case with a propane torch until the crayon melted. This destroyed the Locktite. When it cooled down I could easily just turn the broken bolt out with a pair of water pump pliers.

We were all ready with the left hand drills and extractors, but didn't need them.

Not a machinist, but have had much better success with the "square" cross section extractors than with any of the spiral types. The problem with the spiral ones is that when they bite into a hole, they expand the outside of the bolt, and you are working against yourself. The square ones are tapered and you tap them into the hole before turning and then turn. They don't seem to expand the OD of the bolt as much.

When we put it back together, we used a green locktite that the auto parts store said was the weakest of all, but still enough to prevent backout under vibration.

Re: broken bolt

i deal with rusted and sheared off bolts all the time on cars living in the rust belt.

EZ outs are terrible. i don't even own them because once you do a lot of work like this you realize that if something actually comes out with them - that same thing would come out with other methods that are far less risky. and they cause enormous grief when they shear off, which happens a lot.

personally i say throw them away - but if you're forced to use one NEVER give it any blunt force or impact. they are hard but brittle - think sort of like concrete blocks - it can withstand enormous weight but drop it 8 inches and it'll crack. that's what ez outs are like.

if rust appears to be an issue use a high grade penetrant (WD40 is not a penetrant) like liquid wrench, PB blaster or if you're lucky enough to have a supply of YIELD that is industrial strength penetrant. soak it for as many days as you can...even if you have to spray and get to work that's fine too.

heat the exterior around the threads with a torch...even a dinky propane torch will help. the expanding/contracting of the metal can help break it loose. it will also help penetrant to seap.

the best way to use heat while removing is to heat the metal surrounding the bolt without heating the bolt itself, then try to extract the bolt immediately - expanding the surrounding metal helps. once the heat dissipates to the bolt it's all the same and not helping.

left handed drill bits are your friend. best bet is to start with a very small one to create a guide hole then use a larger one. worst case you drill the bolt out until there's nothing left but a thin shell in which case it will come out.

or you could just drill the entire thing out and use a thread repair kit. they're very easy to use.

if there's any metal left to work with, welding a nut onto the remaining stud is the way to go.

the ghetto fix if it's not a very structural component is to drill a smaller hole within the bolt hole, then tap it and just use a smaller bolt to attach whatever was attached there before. i've used this method for reattaching things like brackets, etc, mostly benign stuff. have to use judgement call here based on useage, loads, how big the bolt is, etc. being a steering gear arm - if it's a single point of failure you probably don't want to but i can't see the sizes and stuff you have to work with.